This Week
Race: GEICO 500
Track: Talladega Superspeedway
TV: ESPN, 2 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN Radio affiliates, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio
Track Facts
Track Length: 2.66 miles
Race Length: 188 laps/500 miles
First Race: Sept. 14, 1969
Banking in the Corners: 33 degrees
Banking on the Frontstretch: 16.5 degrees
Banking on the Backstretch: 2 degrees
Frontstretch: 4,300 feet
Backstretch: 4,000 feet
Rearview Mirror
Harvick’s win last weekend at CMS marked his third victory at the 1.5-mile track. He now has 26 career victories and is tied with NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Fred Lorenzen for 25th on the all-time NSCS win list.
Budweiser Racing Team Notes of Interest
Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet SS team will travel to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend to compete in Sunday’s GEICO 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race.
Winner Winner… Harvick dominated Saturday night’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS), leading 162 laps en route to his third victory of the season. The win secured his spot in the Eliminator round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, which begins next week at Martinsville Speedway.
Chassis Info…The No. 4 Budweiser team will utilize chassis No. 833 in Sunday’s race. Harvick raced this car at Talladega in May and earned a seventh-place finish.
Loop Data… Harvick holds a number of impressive statistics in several of NASCAR’s Loop Data categories at Talladega, including: fourth in fastest laps run (80); fifth in green flag passes (6,423); eighth in closers (35 positions improved in the last 10 percent of each race); ninth in laps led (135); and 10th in laps in the top 15 (1,594).
Talladega Stats… Harvick has 27 NSCS starts at Talladega and has earned one win (2010), six top fives and 11 top-10 finishes. He has an average start of 21.9 and average finish of 15.9.
Testing… The No. 4 team is scheduled to test at Sandusky Speedway this week in preparation for next weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway.
A Look Back… In last October’s race at Talladega, Harvick started 33rd and finished 12th.
Harvick on Racing at Talladega Superspeedway
How do you think the race at Talladega Superspeedway will play out this weekend?
“It’s going to be an absolutely phenomenal race. It’s going to be fun to watch. It’s going to be crazy, offensive racing. Talladega is always crazy, but I mean, it’s going to be so crazy with everybody in the offensive frame of mind.”
Crew chief Rodney Childers on the team’s strategy going into the race at Talladega Superspeedway:
“There’s a lot that can happen at Talladega. For me, as a crew chief, I want to go down there and qualify well, I want to lead the most laps and try to win the race. On the other hand, there are so many things that can go wrong. You can get your driver hurt in a heartbeat there and that’s the last thing we need going into the end of the season. We’ll definitely talk about it this week and we’ll come up with a plan before we go and we’ll stick with that once we’re there.”
